Hyundai is making a significant investment of nearly $1 billion in the development of self-driving technology through Motional, an autonomous driving startup. The South Korean automaker aims to obtain stable management rights in Motional and proactively develop autonomous driving technology.
This move includes internalizing core technology within the company. Hyundai and Aptiv, an Irish-American automotive technology company, established Motional in March 2020.
Hyundai’s investment will involve a capital increase of $487,889,235 and an additional $456,246,344 to acquire an 11% share in Motional. Following this investment, the South Korean automaker will hold a total share of 66.8% in Motional.
The additional investment is expected to enhance Motional’s technological competitiveness, establish the direction of technology development, and lay the groundwork for expanding synergy between autonomous driving units within the Hyundai Motor Group. In January 2024, Aptiv announced its decision to stop allocating capital to Motional and pursue ways to reduce its ownership share.
This decision was made in response to hefty operating losses incurred by the self-driving startup over the past three years. Despite these challenges, Motional’s self-driving technology achieved a significant milestone by passing a typical United States driver’s license test with the Ioniq 5.